Beneath The Flames Behind The Dark
by She whose name is unkown
Summary: She came from the place they called "The Nether' to escape her fate. She didn't know where she would end up. or who she would find. He came from a place called "The End". He found her, a girl who could burn through anything. He knew she was dangerous, but that only made him curious. To escape, to find what is inside. To survive. To live. Their choices decide their fate.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One;

I live in a world of pixels. When I was younger, I thought everything was just blurry. But everything here is a cube, or a pixilated form. It's nice, actually. Not having to categorize every little shape. But still, I have never known anything but this.

The place in which I have grown up would not be ideal to most. It is filled to the brim with red and purple cubed stones. It is coated in fire. Strange creatures lurk and survive here. It is the place I call home. There is no sky here, just vast wastelands of lava and flames. I love the heat, the intensity of falling backwards for the lava to catch me. And drowning in it. Drowning, but not dying. I am a being of flame, magma. The burning sensation has always puzzled me. It does not hurt me, why does every one question that?

Over time, my hair that was naturally brown had reddened into a strange color of rubies. My clothes have all become the color of my hair. Red is something meaningful here. It symbolizes beauty. Bravery, and my least favorite, blood. Others here crave it. Need it to live. Not me. Maybe that is why I will be queen of this land someday.

My name is Queen. Seriously, it is Queen. That's just who I am. I am the soon to be queen of my fiery prison. So the name seemed fitting, I suppose. At least, my father picked a better name for me than for my brother. But his name is lost to time. He is far too gone. Far too corrupted to live in this flame covered world. And I am the last one left.

Our world has been here for a very long time. Longer than anyone has ever counted. But no clocks exist here. We count by scratching our histories into the cubes that shape our castles and fortresses. This world came to be because of a rivalry between brothers and sisters. I know there are other worlds, but this is the only one I have ever seen. Flames seem all too perfect and I do not want to end up in a world of water, or I will go out. Die. Death. I have met death once.

Death is something very few in this kingdom have ever fought. We live until we go out. Then we are reborn like phoenixes. I battled death for my brother's life. Followed them down into the abyss and burned so brightly I ripped apart two whole worlds. And my brothers mind.

I have lived for eighteen years. This, at least, I known is true. Just like the fact that soon I will be married off and crowned. And this is my last year.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two;

I wake up to the sounds of wails and moans. Instantly, my eyes shoot open and I stare at my flat, red ceiling. Stretching, I raise my mostly stiff arms upwards. The walls of my room are painted with pixel portraits of swirls and lines. I lean forwards moving my rectangular legs over the edges of the bed and sit up straight. The world outside my window blazes away.

I move through the hallways of the elaborate brick fortress without a sound. No one else is awake yet. I am the only one.

I move through the kitchens with furnaces untouched from the previous evenings. There is food in the pantries, this I am sure of. I push the doors aside and look through everything. There is nothing instead. No one has eaten today. I am the only one.

Pulling out a bag from one of the closets, I fill it to the brim with empty bottles. I will collect what I need later. I walk back into the passages and head towards the lowest level. Not even a single footstep echoes throughout the always busy halls. No one lingers. I am the only one.

The lowest level contains nothing but a room where I have never been allowed before. I lower my head as I climb down the stairs and my ruby red hair falls down into my face. I move silently and swiftly. I am the only one.

The sounds of what I know will take me far away glisten and swirling. The black cubes have been specked with purple stripes. I know they have formed by water. I know they will take me far, far away. The blocks stand taller than I am, forming a rectangle. I place my hand down upon the lowest chunk and my internal heat lights it. It glows a strange amethyst color as I step inside the swirls. My last thought as I fade from this world is where I will end up, and what my home will become now that I am gone. I am no longer the only one.

I regain focus in a world coated in cubed trees. I instantly do not like this world. But it is too late to return now. I step forwards and my feet touch grass for the first time. I jerk back in surprise, but find I like the tickle it brings to my nerves. I have never felt anything but fire. This, this is new. And I like it.

The wood on the trees will make a nice hut for me, but I cannot even begin to gather anything. This is the first time I have left home in my whole life. I immediately want to explore. I want run across the grass and rest under the trees. I want to throw down the bag I have brought and dance. I want to ignite the world and make it my own. I want to live for the first time.

I cannot even begin to understand what I feel, this newfound freedom. The strange pain of the sharp grass against my feet. The longing. I run through the woods, feeling a sense have not felt before. I run until I reach the end of the tree line and stare out at a bumpy, cube hill. Or hills, rather. I watch the landscape and see forms of pigs, horses, and even the pixel sun high in the sky. My heart wants to rise up and fly with it. I cannot bring myself to move from where I stand. Then I hear another voice.

"What are you doing here?" I turn, and it is a boy. He is covered in dark clothing and has a hood over his head. His voice is thick with annoyance and irritated curiosity. I answer him quite simply in one word.

"Exploring." He does not even ask my name. He simply shrugs and begins to walk away. But then he stops and turns to me.

"Why are you here?" I do not answer right away. Frankly because I do not know how. His expectant lavender eyes glitter with amusement. Or maybe it is just my imagination.

"I ran away." It is the partial truth. There is more to my story, but this stranger does not need to know. He does not nod, he does nothing but stare at me. I wait for him to speak again but he does not. I glance down to what he holds in his hand and see it is a sword made of stone. It is cracked and looked like it would soon fall apart. I look back up at the boy and he is still looking at me. There is something about him I do not like, but something draws me closer. Not physically. But mentally. Why is he here? What does he want from me? Things I do not know.

"I'm Isaac." He extends a stiff rectangular arm. I take it and shake, releasing it right after.

"Queen." I am trying not to say too much. He takes no notice of the tension in my voice. Isaac moves towards me, his eyes narrowing as he glances across my face.

"A little bit away from the cities, don't you think?" He seems joking, but this stings against my mind. I am no city girl. I thrust my arms outwards, shoving him backwards. I am made of flames and as I hit his body, he is burning. This is real. I see the surprise in his eyes as he staggers. He does not expect something like this from someone like me. Then I see the faintest smile light up across his face. And in a second it is gone and he has regained balance.

"I'm not some precious little village girl." I sound frightened. I just hate being called that. But I do look like I would be from a town and not out here in the open. I am dressed completely in red. A sleeveless red turtle neck and matching red skinny jeans. A simple color pattern, my gloves are neon red with black stripes and stick out. They are what make me unique to him, I suppose. Isaac's eyes are narrowed again.

"I see…" He nearly whispers this to himself. He moves backwards another step. I study his face, the pale colors pushed down by dark clothing. Something is very wrong with him. Something I know all too well. I am not the only one.

I say nothing as he disappears into the woods, leaving me alone as the pixel sun falls. It is reassuring to be alone again. I move beneath the gentle lulling shade of the cubed birch tree. As I lie down, the night arises and I close my eyes. There is a simple necessity in sleeping and remaining awake. I want to stay awake. My body refuses to let me sleep. It tells me something is not right.

I listen to the silence of the air and the lingering questions in my mind. The silence hangs over me, sheltering me, holding me. But my questions about this world resurface as my eyes shoot open again. Then there are grunting noises from either side of me. I hold my breath. Whatever is there comes closer. Footsteps echo around me. I stay motionless. The grunting grows louder.

I turn around and find myself face to face with what I know is not human. It, whatever it is, is green and bloodstained. I remain motionless and it draws another shaky step towards me. It extends its arms and reaches towards me. And I burn its arms. I radiate and watch it flee.

On fire. Chuckling, I turn around. And I am staring at two black boots. My eyes flutter upwards and find the boy, Isaac, holding out his hand. I watch him, study his face again. He looks sure of himself as I take his hand. He hoists me up onto my feet.

"If I had known you were going to stay outside, I would have offered to build you something." He rubs his hand, which is a deep red color now. I nod and look down, embarrassed. He closes his eyes. "Need a place to stay?" he offers this, and I glare at him.

"I would like one." I reply far too bluntly. He does not notice and motions for me to follow him. His house, he says, is not far. It is too dark for him to realize I am blushing, even with the faint glow I am giving off.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three;

Isaac's house is not a house. It is an unfinished castle. There is a skeletal section I can already see that is just a frame and workbenches are set up inside. Tools lie everywhere on the ground in the section. The rest of the house is complete, with an exquisite wooden design made of planks and a layer of brick for a floor. There are two wooden doors with windows on either side. The roof points upwards in an odd structure that reminds me of the place where I grew up.

There is a gravel path that leads up to the gates Isaac has surrounded his home with. As he leads me along it, I glance around and notice the halfway chopped down trees with missing leaves and patches of grass. I look back and trot up to Isaac. "So….did you build this?" I speak to him nervously. He nods and says simply;

"Yeah. It's not finished yet." He says it like I did not notice the missing areas of the castle. I fall back a few steps so that I am walking behind him. He looks over his shoulder at me curiously as I cock my head at him, sharing the puzzling look. He throws open the gates and they stay open as I scurry past him. He shuts the gates as soon as I make it through. The stone sword is still in his hand and he tosses it down into the pile of tools next to the skeletal portion of the house.

Isaac notices the look on my face and opens the doors for me with the push of a button. I do not step forwards, just watch as the doors close on their own. He rolls his eyes but I remain focused on the wooden doors. Is it wise for me to touch wood? I extend my hand and push delicately on the door. Nothing happens. I let out a silent sigh of relief as Isaac's eyebrow rises. I glare at him. He pushes the button again and I take a quick step inside.

The inside is just as beautiful as the outside. There are several paintings hung on wooden walls with glass windows a bit higher up. The floors are made of brick and make no sound as I walk across them. There is another door and I can see through the small window upon it that it leads into some type of kitchen. Isaac coughs, trying to get my attention. I turn and he is standing at a staircase.

"My room is upstairs. Don't. Even. Think. About. Coming. Up. There." He says every word with his eyes blazing. I nod, wondering where I will stay, but I notice that there is another door across the room. I head towards it slowly. Isaac has already climbed the wooden staircase and disappeared into the darkness that surrounds the top of the stairs. I shudder. The other door leads to a small room containing a bed and a chest. I open the chest first, but it contains nothing. I throw my bag inside and it makes a thump as it falls.

It is then that I realize how tired I am. I do not know why, but I fall down on my side, landing on top of the bed. I lay there, staring at the wall. I find that I cannot sleep. I force my eyes shut and demand that my mind allows me to sleep.

_The eyes glow strong. The white light they give off is more than I have ever seen before and it stings my skin. The man draws closer and I can hear his footsteps behind me. I run. I am going nowhere. I turn and do not see anything but darkness. And the light of his ever white eyes. I scream. The man moves backwards, the light of his eyes becoming dimmer. I lash out into the darkness. I try to radiate, I try to make light so I can see. But I cannot. I scream again. What have I become now? The white light becomes closer and closer. I try to hit the man, but he moves. I scream again, but he moves quickly and covers my mouth. He smiles a crooked smile. He holds his hand over my mouth and whispers in my ear. _

_"I can stop this." I struggle against his words. He does not let go. Then I am burning. He leaps away and hisses a disturbing hiss. I move towards him, leaving a trail of fire. _

_Then he moves his arms and I am consumed into darkness. His last words echo._

_"I warned you. I warned you."_

I wake up in a panic and covered in beads of sweat. I am shaking. I am freezing. I cannot stop trembling.

There is a window in my room and I can tell it is no longer dark. It is time for me to go. I try to stand up, but my knees are too weak and I collapse onto the ground. Get a grip, I tell myself. I force my way onto my feet. The light of outside leaks into the room in an odd way. I ignore it and open the door once more.

The house is well lit, I notice now that I can see. There is a switch on the wall and it appears to be hooked up to a stone I know all too well. A golden stone. I glance away from it, noticing a thick scent of food. My stomach growls hungrily.

Isaac is cooking something in a furnace. He sees me behind him and turns. His hood is off, which is odd. I notice the pale gray tints of his skin that look like he is covered in soot. His hair is the deepest black I have ever seen. He acknowledges me and checks the food that is still burning. My stomach growls again. I am sure he hears it, because he removes a piece of meat and tosses it to me. The meat is gone within a minute. There is no disguising the look of surprise on his face. He lets out a yawn.

"Did you manage to sleep?" He does not look at me. I take a moment to answer.

"Yes." He turns and faces me for a split second. Then he turns away and grabs another piece of meat out of the stove.

"You don't talk much, do you?" I shake my head in answer. I never really had anyone to talk to before. He seems bothered by this, probably having spent a lot of time in silence, like me. He gnaws on the piece of food and I watch him, my stomach still growling. He manages to swallow and it appears like he is forcing himself to eat. He glances over at me, and nods towards the furnace. I walk over to it and kneel, seeing that there is more food inside.

I grab a few pieces and tear at them, as if I am a monster. Isaac only watches me. The meat is gone and my stomach seems satisfied. I look up at Isaac who stands next to a counter he has made. I give a weak smile. He is grinning; apparently he found it amusing that I was tearing apart a steak.

"I hope you have more food." I say it simply. He shakes his head. I feel a guilty wave wash over me.

"I have plenty." He walks out of the room. I follow. Isaac is out in front of the door, holding a stone axe in one hand. I watch, he does not know I have followed him. He pulls his hood over his head and looks over his shoulder at me. He shakes his head.

"You aren't that sneaky, you know." He hands the axe to me and gestures towards the woods. "You coming or not?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four;

He does not tell me where we are going. Just that I should stay close. I stop often, observing the patterns on many of the trees. Isaac is always ahead of me; he knows the forest better than I ever will.

The grass is sharp against my feet and I stifle a laugh as I walk across it. Isaac glances back at me.

"Find something?" He seems annoyed with me. I shake my head, trying not to show any emotion. He turns around. Stopping at a white birch tree, he draws out another axe. I did not even know he had it. I do not question him as he chops every block away from the cubed tree. It takes him only seconds. I look down to the gray hatchet in my own hand. There is a noticeable crack in the top. I watch as Isaac gathers the wood into a pile.

"Is that it?" He shakes his head again in answer. I frown. But again, I do not question him. I walk a few feet away and face an oak. I do not know what to do. But it comes naturally. Chop the bottom first, then work on the rest. The tree takes a bit longer for me to break down. It is odd for me to try this.

"Nice." I cannot tell if Isaac says this with sarcasm or not. "But," he continues, "There is an easier way." He walks over to me and points to another oak tree. "Try." I roll my eyes, but I follow him. He puts a hand on the axe and lifts my arm at an angle. "Hit the tree there and all of it will fall." I do not believe him at first, but he seems sincere. I yank my arm away from him.

He is right about the tree, of course. He watches me with a smug look. I roll my eyes again and move on. He grabs his axe and follows me.

"Where in the world are you going, princess?" He says it jokingly, but something snaps. I instantly start blazing and turn around, swinging my arm. Leaving a trail of fire in the air that lingers for a split second. I can sense surprise in his unfeeling eyes. I am burning.

"Never. EVER. Call me that." I am in his face, snarling. He does not back down, but he can tell that I am serious.

"Sorry." He mutters this and I can tell he does not mean it. I snarl again and he says it louder. Then I am back away. I drop the axe and look down at the dirt on which I stood. It is charred. I stare down at my hands, then up to the startled look in Isaac's eyes. I am backing away. I turn, and I run. He yells my name as I disappear into the tree line.

I stop running when I know I am far enough away. But I hear him calling. He knows I will not come back. He knows I am hiding. But not from him. That part I know he does not know. He does not know what I am. I sit underneath a tree and draw my knees up to my chin and try to calm down. I hear his footsteps draw closer. Closer. Until I hear him behind me.

"Queen?"

"Go away." I do not mean to sound like a child, but I want to be alone again. How ironic.

"You didn't hurt me." I hear him as he sits down on the other side of the tree.

"There are all kinds of hurt. Heartbreak, wounds, traumatizing experiences." I hear him give a slight laugh, but he silences it.

"I'm fine. I'm not afraid of fire." It is not fire that he should be afraid of.

"Fire does not concern me. It is me that you should be afraid of." I close my eyes and hear him answer me.

"I'm not afraid of you." He seems like he is trying to convince not just me, but himself.

"Not know. I can be dangerous. And this world is not full of fire. I could kill you." He does not laugh this time.

"Maybe I will welcome death." I feel my nostrils flare.

"Death is not someone you would want to welcome." He stays silent for a minute. And then another. I do not say anything more.

"Queen, I have no idea who you are. I don't know anything about you. You don't know anything about me." I grunt after he says this.

"Your point?" He lets out a sigh.

"Tell me why you came here." I stay completely quiet, afraid to even begin.

"Are you serious?" I can tell he nods. This time, I am the one who sighs. "I come from another world. Things are different there. We do not have grass or trees or cows or horses or sheep or even pigs. And the pigs we do have aren't quite pigs. We don't have stones, we don't have gems, and we don't have anything but fire and red and purple bricks. I am the princess of that world, and I am alone very often. My father is always somewhere else and my mother just wanted to find me a match. She wanted to plan out my life. I was supposed to be married, to live happily, and to be perfect." I take a deep breath then continue. "I will be queen one day. But I just wanted to find somewhere else to go. Somewhere where I could do what I want. Where I don't have to be controlled. Where my fire won't work. Where I won't hurt people. But no matter where I go, I guess there are some things I can't change." I stop talking and he makes no response. I surprise myself by asking him, "Why did you come here?" He takes a deep breath and lets it out.

"I wasn't born here. I was born in a world with no sky, with no light, no grass, no animals, no flames, nothing but darkness and monsters. There, everyone has white hair and the darkest purple eyes you will ever find. Except me. My father, he was the leader in the civil wars, but he would not have a son who stuck out and was obsessed with light. Every day, he tried to dye my hair with whatever he had. When it wouldn't work, he wouldn't feed me. He told me I needed to be like everyone else. My mother would stand for it, but he beat her. He hit her so hard that she left me alone with him. I wanted to find a place where I wouldn't get hurt. Where people would stop hurting me. Where I could be who I wanted. But you can't always change those things. " I listen with an intensity he will never know.

"I guess we have that in common."


End file.
